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July 15 – Homeward Bound!

We’re leaving Jackson Michigan with a full charge and an easy trek to Kalamazoo for a double charge…..some energy for the Sun Catcher and a nice brew for Deb and me at The Olde Peninsula. I’m not sure why I have this look on my face. Maybe it’s because I know our trip is coming to an end soon, and that means a lot of exercising to work off all the food I’ve been storing around my beltline.This is the final stretch on the way home. Two simple EV stops at Kalamazoo and South Bend Indiana, and an overnight in Rochester Indiana. And then, a simple drive home through Lafayette to home…..or would it be so simple?

Deb is really starting to get on my nerves after being in such close quarters over the past two weeks. I know the opposite isn’t true. Deb, as far as I know, hasn’t been reading the blog, and I would appreciate your not encouraging her to do so.

Kudos to the city of Kalamazoo for having more EV charging stations per capita of any city I know. Between the city and Western Michigan University, there are plenty of charge locations as seen in my charge map from the MyFordMobile site. And, what can you do in Kalamazoo? If you are a beer aficionado, head to Bells Brewery to pick up something to take home, and have a nice meal at The Olde Peninsula Brewery. The Waterhouse Coffee Shop is also a nice place to relax and use their wireless.The EV charge station in South Bend, a 65 mile drive from Kalamazoo, is located at a shopping mall. Shopping malls are nice locations for EV chargers for people shopping, and make sense for the initial EV charge stations in a community. Placing EV stations around a community’s other assets such as historical sites, downtown areas, and parks will allow EVers passing through to charge up while enjoying a community’s interesting sites and while also leaving some money behind.

From South Bend, it was an easy drive on US highway 31 to Rochester Indiana where we were staying for the night. Our plan was to charge overnight on a 120 volt receptacle. Lafayette was only 65 miles away, and then home after charging at one of Lafayette’s EV stations.

Unfortunately, we had some receptacle/charge problems, preventing us from charging overnight. So, on to Plan B. But, we didn’t have a Plan B, and Indiana is a virtual EV charging station desert. Our mileage gage showed that we had a nominal 50 miles of distance left, and that meant even with our Zenniest driving skills, Lafayette was too distant. Well, I needed to go back to the motel room and do some EV charging station research to see if a reasonable alternative path was available….something within 50 miles.